Bismarck - The Final Voyage by Anthony Saunders. (APB)- Military Art Company Com

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Bismarck - The Final Voyage by Anthony Saunders. (APB)

One of the finest battleships of all time, Bismarck was built by the Blohm and Voss shipyard in Hamburg and launched in February 1939. Her first duty was for commerce raiding in the north Atlantic. Together with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, the destroyers Z10, Z16 and Z23 and a minesweeper. The Bismarck, commanded by Vice Admiral Gunther Lutjens, left her last anchorage at Grimstadt Fjord in Norway. Once Bismarcks departure was confirmed all available British forces were deployed to meet the threat. On the 24th of May 1941 the Bismarck sailed into naval history - sinking the battlescruiser and pride of the British fleet - HMS Hood. But Bismarck would have little time to celebrate, she was sunk by a scorned British fleet three days later. Here Bismarck is depicted on the evening of the 21st May 1941 entering the open sea on her fateful final voyage.

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Born 8th May 1919, Otto Peters joined the Kriegsmarine in April 1939. Posted to Bismarck, he was one of the first to join the crew at the Blohm and Voss shipyard in his hometown of Hamburg. As a leading stoker, Otto was on fire-watch when he heard over the tannoy that the Royal Navy had “undertaken all necessary efforts to sink the Bismarck”, and recalls that he knew at once their days were numbered. Otto was picked up after the sinking by the Cruiser HMS Dorsetshire, there were just 115 survivors from the crew of over 2000. Otto Peters died in December 2013.

Born 9th February 1922, Willi was called up into the Kriegsmarine in 1940. After the training he was posted to join his first, and only ship, the Bismarck, where he served in the ship’s 15 cm artillery and ammunition magazine, until she was sunk on 27th May 1941. One of a tiny handful of men from the magazines to survive to survive, Willi spent the remainder of the war as a POW.

Born 22nd April 1917, Heinrich joined the cruiser Karlsruhe in July 1937, and served on her until she was put out of action by the submarine HMS Truant in Kristians and Fjord. He was immediately sent to join the Bismarck, serving as a Petty Officer in the turbine room, and with Otto Peters he was picked up by the cruiser HMS Dorsetshire. He remained in captivity until the end of the war. Heinrich Kuhnt was at his battle station, the Portside Turbine Compartment, during Bismarck's final fight on 27th May 1941. Kuhnt participated in the planting of scuttling charges on the cooling water intakes before abandoning the Bismarck. Kuhnt was one one of the 25 sailors rescued by the destroyer, HMS Maori. He was imprisoned in England for almost a year then sent to Canada. He remained there until the end of the war. After the war Heinrich Kuhnt started working for the Max Mueller Company until retiring in 1980. Heinrich Kuhnt sadly died on the 11th of July 2010 in Hannover at the age of 93 years.